Gambling

The tiny island of Curaçao is home to many e-commerce companies. But a big business is sports gambling. Billions of dollars pass through the country annually.

We all know the saying about Vegas, but be aware that all of things that stay in Vegas still end up in the huge data repositories of casinos. Adam Tanner’s new book tracks how they’re vacuuming up every bit of information they can on their customers to keep people coming back.

This isn’t your granddad’s gambling industry: As casinos spread and habits change, slot machines have become a massive part of casino profits — as much as 85 percent. They’re doing so partly by giving gamblers the illusion of winning, even when they’re falling behind.

Australia allows wide-ranging gambling on sports, and until recently allowed it to be discussed on sports broadcasts as well. But as the amount of gambling advertising exploded recently, the government balked. Now broadcasters are proposing their own code of conduct.

The term Chips Funga is taking Kenya by storm. It’s the name for the popular French fries that club-goers might eat after a night out on the town. But it’s also become a slang term for when a man meets a women and takes her home for a one-night stand. There’s a related term for when the shoe is on the other foot, too.